The Kaleshwaram mega irrigation and drinking water project was inaugurated late last month by the Telangana government which aims at a target of irrigating over 1.25 crore acres of land and meeting the agricultural, drinking and industrial needs of 70% of districts in Telangana. This Rs 80,000 crores project comes as a great relief to the parched state. If the region receives adequate rainfall then the pumping of water is said to begin from next month.
On May 2, 2016, the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao laid the foundation stone for the project which was expected to make available of nearly 235 million cubic feet (TMC) of water and was to change the irrigation system of the state. In the first phase, the project is expected to irrigate over 40 lakh acres of land, with 2 TMC of water being drawn every day for 90 days a year.
Under this project, three barrages, 19 reservoirs, and 20 lifts have been constructed for the storage of 141 TMC in the first phase. Round-the-clock work is presently underway to build 1,531 km of main canals under 12 blocks and 203 km of tunnels, with 4,000 workers being deployed for the purpose.
The Medigadda Barrage is a vital part of this irrigation infrastructure that would life water from the Godavari river and distributes it to 23 districts of Telangana. Water from the Godavari would be lifted at Medigadda, about 100 m above the sea level, in six stages and supplied to Kondapochamma Sagar, at a height of 618 m from the sea level. Pump houses of a capacity hitherto unseen in India are being constructed to lift 2 TMC of water every day this year—this would be upped to 3 TMC next year.
In the first phase of the project, water is to be supplied for two crops spread over an area of 40 lakh acres every year, which will later translate into an overall area of 80 lakh acres every year. It is estimated that 4,992.47 MW of power would be required to lift 2 TMC water, with the figure going up to 7,152 MW for 3 TMC of water every day.